U.S. Small Business Administration Guam Branch manager Kenneth Q. Lujan who conducted the workshop from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the conference room of the Chamber of Commerce building in Garapan presented the HUBZone Program to a batch of small scale business operators the history, importance, benefits and requirements on how to qualify for the program.
“What we are doing is trying to demonstrate to the community that they can have access to government contracts and one way of doing that is to go thorugh the HubZone program. This means that everyone or every business in the CNMI is eligible to qualify for a program because the commonwealth is under the HUBZone area,” Lujan told the Variety after the workshop.
He said that the workshops are just to give businesses, especially small scale the opportunity to compete in the competitive field.
“I cannot give businesses the assurance that they can get contracts but at least I am giving them the key of opportunity to open the door to contracts, which they cannot do if they are not qualified under the HUBZone program,” Lujan said.
Yesterday’s workshop is the first for this year, Lujan said. He said that if there are no budget constraints, they would like to conduct workshops here on a quarterly basis to provide more information to small scale business operators, and also have the CNMI Small Business Development Center get involved in providing trainings.
In his presentation, Lujan said that getting certified under the HUBZone program brings many benefits, including being qualified for higher SBA-granted surety bonds on construction and service contract bids.
Lujan said that to apply for HUBZone certification, small businesses are encouraged to use the electronic application on the HUBZone website http://www.sba.gov/content/applying-hubzone-program.
The applications will be electronically sent to SBA in Washington D.C.
Top 10 reasons for termination
Lujan also presented the top reasons for termination of a HUBZone certification and these are the pitfalls that business owners must avoid.
10. The firm is not owned or controlled by a US Citizen (typically a holding company).
9. The firm will not disclose their affiliations with other businesses.
8. The firm is not able to provide valid driver’s licenses for their employees residing within a HUBZone area.
7. The firm is not able to provide all the supporting documentation for ownership and control.
6. The firm is not able to obtain supporting documentation from employees.
5. The documentation provided was not legible or complete, like typically poor copier or fax machine.
4. The firm does not meet and or understand the 35 percent employee eligibility requirement.
3. The firm does not properly understand the meaning of Principal Office.
2. Timely and accurate submission of all required documentation.
1. The firm does not respond to all SBA’s request for documentation.
Lujan said that examiners may conduct a review or parts of the review at one or all of the concern’s offices related to the documentation related to eligibility requirements like documentation, employee percentage requirements and attempt to maintain this percentage.
He added that SBA may conduct a program examination at any time after an application for certification is submitted, during the processing of the application, and at any time while the concern is certified as a qualified HUBZone small business.
Lujan said that there are so many federal contracting opportunities for small scale businesses and the numbers keep on increasing. Getting qualified and certified to compete in these opportunities is the first step to get there.
Today, another workshop will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the conference room of the Chamber of Commerce building in Garapan.
Lujan is inviting small business owners to come and join the workshop to get more information that can help them expand their businesses.
Admission is free.
Fast Facts about the HUBZONE program
The HUBZone Program stimulates economic development and creates jobs in urban and rural communities by providing Federal contracting preferences to small businesses. The preferences go to small businesses that obtain HUBZone certification in part by employing staff who live in a HUBZone. The company must also maintain a principal office in one of these specially designated areas.
How to qualify
• To qualify for a HUBZone program, a business, except those tribally owned, must meet the following criteria:
• It must be a small business by SBA standards.
• It must be owned and controlled at least 51 percent by U.S. citizens, or a Community Development Corporation or an agricultural cooperative or an Indian tribe.
• Its principal office must be located within a “Historically Underutilized Business Zone” which includes lands considered “Indian Country” and military facilities closed by the Base Realignment and Closure Act, and
• At least 35 percent of its employees must reside in a HUBZone.
A HUBZone certification must be recertified every three years to the SBA to certify that your business remains a qualified HUBZone small business concern.
Types of HUBZone Contracts
Competitive — A competitive HUBZone contract can be awarded if the contracting officer has a reasonable expectation that at least two qualified HUBZone small businesses will submit offers and that the contract can be awarded at a fair market price.
Sole Source — A sole source contract can be awarded if the contracting officer does not have a reasonable expectation that two or more qualified HUBZone small businesses will submit offers, determines that the qualified HUBZone small business is responsible and determines that the contract can be awarded at a fair price. The government estimate cannot exceed $5 million for manufacturing requirements or $3 million for all other requirements.
Full and open — A full and open competition contract can be awarded with a price evaluation preference. The offer of the HUBZone small business will be considered lower than the offer of a non-HUBZone/non-small business providing that the offer of the HUBZone small business is not more than 10 percent higher. {jcomments off}
